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Cyber War Ends Only After Voting Ends – Ahmad Maslan

KUALA LUMPUR — Cyber warfare, especially to combat fake news and slander about the government during the 14th General Election (GE14) will only end once the election is over, UMNO’s cyber warfare chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan declared.

The head of UMNO information technology bureau said members of UMNO information technology and social media committees which had been activated in all 191 of the party divisions were ready and had started to get close to as many voters as possible.

Ahmad, who is also a member of the UMNO Supreme Council, stressed that he was not going to be complacent even though certain studies had shown that the Barisan Nasional and UMNO social media were now at the forefront compared to that of the opposition.

“But I do not want to highlight this, to me the warfare will only be over at 5 pm on polling day,” he told Bernama.

Ahmad said he expected the cyber warfare during GE14 to become worse with the use of technology which was no longer exclusive to the younger generation such as during the previous GE.

He said the demographics of technology users were wider, and even those in their 60s were able to use the smartphone and access the cyber world.

“In Malaysia, almost everyone is on Facebook and Whatsapp, Facebook now has about 18 million users in Malaysia, and in general, there are about 20 million internet users, besides the 44 million telephones, which is more than the total population of Malaysia.

“To me, anyone who has a smartphone, has Facebook and Whatsapp, and he can be a social media player,” he said.

Ahmad said besides countering the fake news and slander on the social media, the committees will promote all matters related to the federal and state governments under Barisan Nasional. — BERNAMA